In the week that it's been out, I've seen it twice and I'm going back a third time after Thanksgiving dinner...

When all is said and done, "The Grinch" is a wonderful movie; true to the original while taking justified liberties and expanding it, and maybe providing it's own, new unique riches the book and the animated version don't have. This film has been quite unfairly lambasted and compared. I'm sure no one will argue that Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" is more of a classic than "The Grinch," How many versions of THAT do we have? With how many variations and elaborations, from Bill Murry to Mr. MaGoo?

Taken on it's own terms, "The Grinch" is a new holiday classic, hillarious and moving. Jim Carrey is magnificant; absolutely hillarious while always portraying the Grinch as a three-dimensional character, one who (believe it or not) is a grown child nursing a long buried wound. When it comes time to bring that wound to the surface and heal, it's a perfect and moving combination of Carrey, Ron Howard's direction and James Horner's score. Carrey, I think, deserves an Oscar nomination.

Visually inventive, wonderfully acted, it is the best fantasy film in a long time.

A Christmas movie that makes you laugh so hard so consistantly and then move you to tears by the end? Bah Humbug, critics and nay-sayers. A new classic for all ages, for all time.


Two Letters: P U   September 26, 2001
Mark Arndt (Belleville, Illinois USA)
18 out of 28 found this review helpful

This movie could have been so much better. It had everything going for it, when you think about it. Jim Carrey, Ron Howard, a good score and a big budget.

I tried looking at this movie from both angles: as an independent film and as a remake. I don't know in which department it failed more. The whole thing feels frantic and unsettling. I felt like I had too much coffee watching it.

They could have made it so powerful, such a touching, funny classic. Consider the ending. Why not tell Carrey to let up for at least one scene? Let Faith Hill's voice (or just the music) swell, then show the Grinch lifting the gifts with tears running down his face. Or when his heart grew three sizes, don't turn it into another sight gag. Use it! Let the movie have some charm! Let people walk out of the movie with the joy of Christmas in them.

Another thing wrong with this movie. There is not enough contrast in all the characters. The Grinch is not a bad person; he is just misunderstood. The Whos are supposed to be protagonists, but they are greedy and self-focused. And that whole love thing between the Grinch and Martha May was pointless and unneeded. The Grinch doesn't change at the end. He is still mean to the mayor. He gets together with the antagonist girl.
Who are you supposed to root for?

Carrey is funny, and he is his funniest when in moderation. You would think such a successful actor/comedian would have learned by now. Maybe Ron Howard gave him too much freedom in the movie. Maybe he respected him too much.

It is such a shame. Hollywood only got one shot at it, and they blew it. I suggest we all try to forget it ever happened.


You're a bad movie, Mr. Grinch   December 9, 2004
Ben Richman (Woodbridge, VA USA)
18 out of 23 found this review helpful

It's hard to say what's worse: having all your Christmas decorations and gifts stolen on Christmas Eve night, or having to sit through this horrible adaptation of a classic Christmas story. It's hard to believe talented people like Ron Howard and Jim Carrey could take such excellent source material and turn it into one of the worst movies ever made.

Jim Carrey's performance as the Grinch is nothing more than a rehash of his performance in "The Mask," except in this case it completely destroys a classic character. The Grinch is mean, sniveling, and pathetic, not an insane, bouncing-off-the-walls lunatic.

Visually, the movie is very dark, which fits during the scenes at the Grinch's lair, but this presentation continues during scenes showcasing what should be a bright, cheerful Whoville.

Another flaw is that the movie constantly makes references to pop-culture and the real world. This only serves to take you out of this fantasy world and destroy what should be an immersive experience.

But perhaps the worst thing about this movie is the humor, which is crude and disgusting. The movie is filled with "funny" bits like the Grinch making a sleeping character kiss his dog's rear end, or the Grinch being forced to eat too much and drooling pudding out of his mouth, or a scene in which he falls into a female character's breasts. This movie should heart-warming, not disgusting.

All in all, this movie is an abomination to Christmas, an abomination to Dr. Seuss, and an abomination to the film industry. Instead of serving as a heart-warming reminder of the Christmas spirit, this movie is more like a cold shower for the Holiday season. Do yourself a favor and watch the far superior animated version.


Puttin' on the Seuss   December 11, 2006
Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana)
18 out of 21 found this review helpful

Many kids
Enjoy Christmas
They like it a lot

And this film
Is about the Grinch
Who did not

The film gives the background, and fills in some blanks
The Grinch as a child was subjected to pranks
He fancied a Who, with the name Martha May
He tried to impress her and to his dismay
They laughed at his efforts, his gift and his face
So he destroyed the classroom and fled from that place

Then,
He moved to Mount Crumpet
And made him a home
While the green hairy creature seethed under the dome
Until one cold day at the town Christmas party
When young Cindy Lou showed him how to be hearty
Then Mayor May-Who went and spoiled all the fun
By taunting the Grinch 'til he came all undone

He went up his mountain, and he started scheming
And when he was through he was smiling and beaming
He'd ruin their Christmas; he knew what to do
Revenge is the sweetest when it's overdue
If you've read the story you know how it ends
How the Grinch stole that Christmas from his former friends

So what happened next?
I won't give it away
This Christmas this movie will show every day
So if you're a Grinch you can run, but not hide
As you try to stifle the feeling inside
Just gather the kids for a clean yuletide treat
Merry Christmas to all!
(Now this poem's complete)



Amanda Richards, December 10, 2006



Did we really need a remake?   November 1, 2000
17 out of 33 found this review helpful

I went into this movie with high hopes. I loved the original animated film/book and I wanted this to be good. And this film is visually beautiful. Unfortunately, there is not enough for a 2 hour movie and the film makers ignored that. It was too long, crass, simplistic, boring, and insulting to Dr. Seuss. The casting of Jim Carrey was wrong. He seems unable to be anyone but himself, although he did at times sound like he was possessed by Sean Connery and W.C. Fields. Ron Howard could not (or would not) reign him in and consequently Carrey was over the top and completely unbelievable as the Grinch. The rest of the cast was fine, but they didn't have a lot to work with. The addition of the sub-plot was unnecessary, as was the pseudo-Seuss narration.

I wish that Tim Burton had been given the chance to direct this film (maybe he was and wisely turned it down). In his hands, it may have stood a chance. The only bright spot in an otherwise dismal film was Max the dog. He stole every scene he was in.